Brush



1934- c. c. RRRRRR m 1,970,302

Patented Aug. 14, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT, ormca we; 0. Get-g ild:-

many. Application September 1:, 19:2, ScflalNo. 832,875 8 Claims.CL'183)' the standpoint of its efliciency in operation and, v

at the same time, to facilitate the making, assembling, disassemblingand reconditioning of the brush.

The bristles of rotary. brushes which are power driven for bufling orpolishing or cleaning are comparatively short lived and when theworkwhich is done by these brushes is comparatively";

heavy as, for example, in the case of rotary wire:

holding thebristles, must :be substantial, which adds considerably tothe initial cost of the brush. It is desirable, therefore,that thosebrushes the bristles ofv which arev comparatively short lived,

and particularly, brushes which have. an exceed- 1 ingly heavy dutytoperform, such as the cleaningof scale from water-tube boiler tubes, beso con-f,

structed that theycan readily :be reconditioned instead of" hav'ihgiwbethrown' away when the bristles are worn out.

One of the objectsgof the present invention is so toimprove-brushnenstructions, and particularly the construction of. irotary brushes,-that that as great a number of 'bristles as is conven-' iently possiblemay be firmly confined in the- 40 brush body.

the brush body and in removing it from the body for purposes ofreplacement.

Other objects and important features of the invention will appear'fromthe following description and claims when considered in connection withthe accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section onthe line 1-1 of Figure 2 of a rotary brush embodying the presentinvention Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is asection on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4 through a tuft of bristles confined ina sleeve bebristle brushes for cleaning boiler tubes,- the, whole brushstructure, including the body for 'tles' 8.S possible contact, with eachpart of the fore the tuft and sleeve have been bent into their Figure4-is a side elevation of the tuft and asfiiaged sleeve referred to, inthe description of Figure --5-'-s hows the tuft'of bristles bent to theform inwhich it is inserted in thebrush body;

Figure 6 illustratesa modified form of tuft of such lateral dimensionsthata-singleltuft will 1 e qui e s a se b u b 31i;shapes',toi;.inaterials*and: that the invention of'wideutility andapplicability in the I it is, usually important that: the bristles be soarin the body that in their movement over-the surfaceto'bercleanedasmany brissurface to be cleaned. To-this end it is desir-- able,therefore, that. each row of bristles or of tufts of bristlesbees-continuous as is practically possible throughout the length of thebrush proper-. j In the illustrative embodiment of the inventionthebristles or tufts of bristles have been arrangedside byside in' slotsextending substan- 'tially throughout the length of the brush body a s0that-in the rotation of the brush each ro of Still another object of theinvention is so to, construct each tuft of bristles that it may readilybe handled as;a unit both in assembling it in.

bristles will effect a; brushing action that is substantially continuousthroughout its entire length. A convenient way of forming a brush bodyto receive substantially continuous rows of bristles or of tufts ofbristles is that shown in the illustrative embodiment of the inventionin which a cylindrical brush body 2, having an internally screw-threadedextension 4 to receive the driving mechanism, is transversely slotted inplanes which include the axis of the cylinder, each of 5 these slotsbeing of suflicient width .to'receive a substantial tuft of bristles.Starting with a solid cylinder, the slotting of the cylinder, as shown,will form a hollow center in the brush body where the various slots 6intersect. The partitions 8 viding each tuft 1 0 with a sleeve 12 and ofshaping the tuft into V form-to fit over a segmental partition 8 isillustrated in the drawings where the tuft is shown as assembled firstin a straight sleeve 12, of circular cross section, whichis then bent ata point intermediate between its ends into substantially V form and atthe same time flattened somewhat on opposite sides so that it will fitsnugly and without turning in the slot 6.

If desired, instead of having a plurality of tufts, each provided with asleeve, in each slot, a tuft may be formed, as shown in Fig. 6, which iswide enough to fill the entire slot and is correspondingly provided witha sleeve which extends throughout the length of the slot.

To retain the tufts in assembled position in the slots, a cap or endpiece 14 is adapted to be clamped against the ends of the partitionmem-' bers 8 of the brush body, this cap or end member being preferablyof the same diameter as the brush body 2 and having a flange which fitsagainst shoulders 16 provided at the ends of the partition members 8.

To clamp the cap or end member 14 in tuftretaining position against theshoulders 16 on the partitions 8, a bolt 18 is provided, which ispreferably of such diameter that it serves as an abutment to prevent thetufts from being pushed inwardly toward the center of the brush, thebolt 18 being provided with a head 20 engaging either the cap 14 or awasher 22 located between the head 20 and the cap 14 and being threadedat its end to screw into threads tapped into the solid part of the brushbody, thus permitting its convenient removal when it is desired toremove and replace the tufts to recondition the brush.

As an alternative method of clamping the cap 14 against the shoulders.16, a bolt 24 having a relatively thin head 26, tapered on its underside to fit the concavity at the bottom of the threaded socket in theextension 4 of the brush body, may have its shank or stem extendedthrough the cap 14 and threaded toreceive a nut 28 for clamping the cap14 in position. This alternative construction avoids the necesity forhaving a substantial partition between the end of the threaded socket inthe extension 4 and the interior of the brush body proper for thethreads for holding the bolt 18, thus permitting the brush structure, asa whole, to be somewhat shortened.

What I claim as new is:

1. A rotary brush comprising a body having a hollow center andlongitudinally-extending peripherally spaced bristle-receiving slots cuton radii from the axis of rotation, tufts of bristles each shaped toproject through two slots and to embrace the partition separating saidslots. each tuft being provided with a sleeve confining that portion ofthe bristles intermediate between the ends thereof and of a transversedimension to fit snugly between the walls of the slots, said sleevebeing bent sharp y. whereby to produce a. crimp therein which willsecurely grip the bristles against longitudinal movement.

2. A rotary brush comprising a cylindrical body transversely slotted inplanes including the axis of the cylinder, tufts of bristles each shapedto project through two adjacent slots and to embrace the partitionseparating said slots, and means for confining said tuftsagainstmovement out of said slots, comprising a plate closing the open ends ofsaid slots and an axially extending member serving both to maintain saidbristles in projected relation to said cylindrical body and said platein closingrelation to said slots.

3. A bristle tuft construction for insertion into or removal'from abrush body as a unit comprising a bundle of bristles and a tube orsleeve surrounding and confining said bristles throughout a portion oftheir extent intermediate between their ends, said tube or sleeve andthe associated bristles being bent substantially to V shape whereby saidtube or sleeve is crimped so as to form a crimp in the tube or sleeve,and thereby securely clamp the bristles therein.

4. The process of assembling tufts of bristles in substantially V shapefor insertion into a brush body, which comprises inserting the bristlesinto a tube or sleeve of substantially circular cross section so thatsaid sleeve surrounds and confines that portion of the bristlesintermediate between the ends thereof and then forming a crimp in thetube or sleeve to securely clamp the bristles therein by bending saidtube or sleeve and the confined bristles into V shape.

5. The process of assembling tufts of bristles in substantially V shapefor insertion into a brush body, which comprises inserting the bristlesinto a tube or sleeve of substantially circular cross section so thatsaid sleeve surrounds and confines that portion of the bristlesintermediate between the ends thereof and then forming a crimp in thetube or sleeve to securely clamp the bristles therein by bending saidtube or sleeve and 115 the confined bristles into V shape and at thesame time flattening the opposite sides of said tube.

6. A rotary brush comprising a longitudinally slotted cylindrical bodyhaving an open center 12 formed by intersection of the slots in the axisof the cylinder, tufts of bristles each bent to project through twoadjacent slots and to embrace the partition separating said slots, eachtuft of bristles being provided with a sleeve which is also bentsubstantially to V shape to embrace said partition, which fits snuglybetween the walls of the two slots into which it projects, extends to aposition substantially flush with the outer surface of the cylinder andconfines that portion of the bristles which is located between theexposed parts of the tuft, and means for maintaining the said bristlesin projected relation to the cylindrical outer surface of the brush bodycomprising a member extending through the center of said body andbearing against the bends of the bristle confining sleeves. i

7. A brush including a cylindrical body, said body provided withtransverse communicating slots, the portions of the body between thetransverse slots being substantial sectors, wire bristles doubled uponthemselves to provide a pair of tufts, and seated in the slots with onetuft projecting outwardly through each slot, and a cylindrical memberthrust through the open center of said 145 body provided by thecommunicating slots for holding said tufts in seated relation to saidsectors.

8. A brush including a cylindrical body, said body provided withtransverse communicating 150 for securing the bristles in place, and acylindrical member thrust through the open center of said body providedby the communicating slots for holding said tufts in seated relation tosaid sectors. I

CHARLES C. GERHARDT.

